The UAE job market recovered in the third quarter of 2026, but only to its first-quarter level. Hiring rose 4 percent after falling 4 percent in the second quarter, recruiter Cooper Fitch reported on 20 October. On the arithmetic of FOUAE (Founders of UAE), that leaves hiring about 0.2 percent below its first-quarter level.
Data: Cooper Fitch Gulf Employment Index, S&P Global UAE PMI and IMF, via Khaleej Times, The National and Staffing Industry Analysts, July to October 2026. FOUAE calculations are marked. This covers hiring activity, not salaries, and is not career advice.
In short
- UAE hiring rose 4 percent from July to September, the fastest pace in the Gulf.
- That almost exactly offset the 4 percent fall from April to June.
- In Cooper Fitch’s index, energy, finance and strategy roles grew most, while banking and investment management fell.
Is the UAE job market recovering?
Yes. Hiring has climbed back from a one-quarter dip. Cooper Fitch, a Dubai-based recruitment firm, publishes a quarterly Gulf Employment Index. It showed UAE hiring up 4 percent in the third quarter of 2026, Khaleej Times reported. That was the strongest result among the six Gulf states.
However, the second quarter had gone the other way. UAE hiring fell 4 percent from April to June, the country’s first private-sector employment decline in more than four years, Cooper Fitch said, Staffing Industry Analysts reported in July.
Cooper Fitch said the Gulf-wide contraction “lasted a single quarter and the market is now back within the modest growth range seen through 2025”, The National reported.
The FOUAE calculation
Both figures are reported as changes on the previous quarter. So a 4 percent fall followed by a 4 percent rise does not cancel out exactly. Multiplying 0.96 by 1.04 gives 0.998.
In other words, UAE hiring in the third quarter was about 0.2 percent below its first-quarter level. Across the Gulf, hiring fell 3 percent and then rose 2 percent, which leaves it about 1.1 percent below. On this measure, the UAE has recovered more fully than the Gulf as a whole.
Neither report sets out how the index is built, so these figures signal direction rather than count jobs.
How the UAE compares with the rest of the Gulf
The UAE job market led a mixed region. Saudi Arabia rose 1.5 percent and Oman 0.5 percent in the third quarter. Qatar fell 1 percent, and Kuwait and Bahrain fell 2 percent each, Khaleej Times reported. On FOUAE’s arithmetic, the UAE grew at twice the Gulf-wide pace of 2 percent.
Which sectors are hiring across the Gulf?
The mix of jobs changed more than the total. Across Cooper Fitch’s Gulf index, energy hiring rose 7 percent, the largest increase. Strategy and senior finance roles rose 6 percent each, and finance rose 5 percent.
Real estate and software both rose 4 percent, while sales and marketing rose 3 percent. Public-sector hiring rose 3 percent, and Murphy said public-sector projects in the UAE were starting to regain momentum, Khaleej Times reported.
By contrast, two areas of finance pulled back. Banking hiring fell 4 percent. Investment management fell 5 percent, the sharpest drop, which Cooper Fitch called “a pause after a strong run of hiring earlier in the year”.
A 12-point gap between sectors
On FOUAE’s arithmetic, the gap between the fastest-growing sector, energy, and the weakest, investment management, is 12 percentage points in a single quarter. That spread is wider than the 4 percent headline change.
Some energy roles were also hard to fill. “Project directors, commissioning specialists and contracts leaders remained difficult to secure,” the report said.
Why the UAE job market is hiring again
Business activity behind the UAE job market has picked up. The S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a monthly survey of about 1,000 non-oil private firms, stood at 55.3 in September. That matched August’s 20-month high, Khaleej Times reported on 5 October. A reading above 50 means conditions are improving.
David Owen, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the non-oil economy had “moved past the mid-year slowdown”.
Still, the same survey shows caution on staffing. Firms added staff in September after cutting jobs in August, but only slightly, despite strong growth in orders. They also raised selling prices at the sharpest rate since May 2011.
Dr Trefor Murphy, founder and chief executive of Cooper Fitch, said: “We’re in catch-up now for what we missed this year.”
What the UAE job market data does not tell you
For anyone weighing the UAE job market, these figures measure hiring activity, not pay or how long a search takes. Neither source published UAE salary data for the third quarter.
The index also comes from one recruiter, so it reflects the roles that firm handles. Even within it, the report said the 3 percent rise in sales and marketing hiring reflected “cautious confidence rather than a broad hiring rebound”.
The wider economy adds context. The IMF expects the UAE economy to shrink 3.9 percent in 2026 and grow 7.7 percent in 2027, as our look at the UAE GDP forecast explains.
What the UAE job market means for founders and newcomers
FOUAE’s reading, not a forecast: the report says project directors, commissioning specialists and contracts leaders in energy remain hard to find. Founders recruiting for those roles are competing for a small pool.
For people moving to the UAE, the data points to a market that has returned to its earlier level. Emiratisation rules also shape hiring in private firms, and our guide to Nafis salary support covers that side. The Ministry of Investment’s view on investment flows, set out in our analysis of the UAE FDI target, suggests delayed projects may still restart.
The verdict on the UAE job market
The UAE job market has regained the ground it lost in the second quarter. Hiring in the third quarter of 2026 rose fastest in the Gulf, but only back to its first-quarter level. The sector mix, led by energy and senior finance, matters more than the headline, and the next index will show whether the catch-up continues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Largely, yes. UAE hiring rose 4 percent in the third quarter of 2026, the fastest in the Gulf, after a 4 percent fall in the second quarter, Cooper Fitch reported. On FOUAE’s arithmetic, that leaves it about where it was in the first quarter.
Energy roles grew fastest in Cooper Fitch’s Gulf index in the third quarter, up 7 percent. Strategy and senior finance roles rose 6 percent each. Banking fell 4 percent and investment management fell 5 percent, according to Cooper Fitch.
Slightly. The S&P Global UAE PMI stood at 55.3 in September 2026, a sign of growing business activity. Firms added staff after cutting jobs in August, but only slightly, despite strong growth in new orders.
Sources
Sources: Khaleej Times, Jobs in UAE: hiring rebounds 4% in Q3 2026 as business confidence returns, 20 October 2026; The National, Hiring in the UAE rebounds in third quarter, 20 October 2026; Staffing Industry Analysts, Gulf hiring slips 3% in Q2, 22 July 2026; Khaleej Times, UAE business activity picks up as prices rise at fastest pace in over 15 years, 5 October 2026. Cooper Fitch Gulf Employment Index; S&P Global UAE PMI. The 0.2 percent and 1.1 percent net changes and the 12-point sector gap are FOUAE calculations. This is general information, not career advice.
Founders of UAE (FOUAE) is an independent, digital-first business publication covering the founders, companies and economy of the United Arab Emirates. Follow FOUAE on Instagram and LinkedIn.
